NEW YORK, NY — When people think about mentoring, they often imagine helping kids learn how to throw a baseball, or assisting them with their homework. But there are many models of successful mentoring, and while companionship and friendship are important, mentoring today is doing much more. A recent article published by The Journal of Vocational Behavior, “A moderated mediation model of e-mentoring,” written by Marco S. DiRenzo, Frank Linnehan, Ping Shao and William L. Rosenberg, examines the impact and benefits of online mentoring that specifically focuses on career exploration, college preparation and financial literacy. The study collected data from icouldbe.org, an e-mentoring program for middle and high school students in low-income communities.

Researchers from Drexel University, intrigued with an online, social networking mentoring model as the new way to scale up the powerful impact of face-to-face mentoring, collected two-years of longitudinal student data from icouldbe.org to assess its intended outcomes to improve individual student self-efficacy – or their ability to cope and succeed in school and beyond. Lengths of program participation and meaningful activities have long been known to be the foundation of traditional mentoring programs. In this study a new finding has been established: the frequency of interaction between mentors and mentees is critical in meeting mentoring goals such as the ability to make positive life decisions to better one’s life, ultimately leading to motivating students to stay in school and plan for their futures.

Because e-mentoring takes place completely online, it removes geographical, socio-economic, age, racial and time barriers allowing for more frequent interaction. icouldbe.org allows mentors and mentees to communicate solely online at their own convenience, through a curriculum-based forum, whether it be from home, school, the office, or a daily commute. The program is integrated into schools, and pairs disadvantaged middle and high school students with professionals nationwide.

The research states, “Our study provides empirical support that pre-program experiences and attitudes are positively associated with protégé-mentor interaction frequency, which in turn mediates their effect on positive mentoring outcomes.”

icouldbe.org demonstrates the thesis that this model set out to prove; whether it’s through the re-investments by successful companies like E*Trade and Booz Allen Hamilton, or the achievement it has brought to students of the program, it is apparent that icouldbe.org’s e-mentoring model encourages frequent mentor-mentee communication, leading to overall greater rates of success.

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icouldbe.org is an award-winning online mentoring program connecting high school students from diverse communities with mentors from across the country, cultivating meaningful relationships between students and e-mentors, to explore their interests and dreams for the future. Since 2000, icouldbe.org has used their research-backed curriculum to help over 15,000 students discover their passions and take action to realize their career and educational goals. To learn more about icouldbe.org’s services or to become a mentor yourself, log onto http://www.icouldbe.org.